Lies To Myself
by AProfoundQuiet
Summary: Cherri Riddle, a girl suffering from delusional disorder, somniloquy, and being raised in an authoritarianistic family falls down the rabbit hole after having a hallucination! What will happen in boy-filled Wonderland- will she stay, or will she go?


PROLOGUE

Riddling Lifetime

_"There! There!" I point excitedly. "Pretty!"_

_"Sweetheart, don't press your face against the glass..." Mother sighed._

"No..."

_"Looky! Cute wittle kitty~" I stepped away from the glass, as it broke._

_"Sweetie!" Mother grasped my hand, and pulled me close to her. _

_"Ow?" I asked, glancing at my hand. Blood..._

"But what are you, without blood?"

_"Helen, we have to-" A gurgling sound, and a sickening thud._

"Down goes father."

_A boom. _

"Down goes mother."

_I pressed my hands against my face, and started running, blindly._

"D-mmit, Riddle, wake up!"

I shot up, and found myself shivering.

"God, your sleep talking is a _pain_, you need to learn to either stop, or forget sleeping in this house!" My grandfather threatened, slamming my door shut.

I placed a hand against my forehead- clammy. _I had that nightmare again. I guess I started sleep talking, too. Great. Grandfather must hate me... I can't... risk, being kicked out... _

My parents were both killed when I was young. Normally, memories don't start forming until about seven years old. For some reason, I remember their murder. Somehow, I was able to get out alive.

But, none of that matters now. It's been done and over with for... years. I- I live in fear of gunshots, but that's as bad as it is. No after-trauma... no nothing. I guess I got off lucky.

Well, except for the sleep-talking.

Getting dressed, I was ready to start my day. I rushed downstairs to start breakfast; maybe, if I made it fast enough, Granfather wouldn't be in such a bad mood.

Setting the table as the pancakes and eggs cooked, my grandmother walked in. "Good morning, Carmina."

My grandmother, despite being younger than my grandfather, was losing her memory. It had been like this for a few years now, so, I had just gotten used to it. "I'm Cherri, Grandmother, not Carmina."

"Breakfast smells delicious, Carmina." Grandmother sighed happily, as I placed out the food.

"Same junk that we always eat." Grandfather retorted.

I ignored both of them- they were stubborn as always. "I'll be out tending to the garden, okay? Enjoy breakfast."

When I moved in as a child, the garden out back was what I enjoyed the most. Grandmother was getting too old to tend to the garden, so I took over. Although it was mainly a vegetable garden, flowers bloomed in it, too. It was beautiful, and we were able to grow our own delicious vegetables.

"_Meow_."

My head shot up, as I was pulling weeds from the garden. A cat? _I haven't seen strays before. Cats don't care for vegetables... do they? Not like rabbits... right? _Panic struck over me at the idea of losing my garden to hungry animals. No matter _how_ cute the animal might be, this garden is _mine_.

"Are you there, kitty cat?" I called, but, surprise surprise, no answer. I stood up, and brushed my hands together to get the dirt and dust off. "Yoohoo!" I rounded the garden, to find a small, shadowy figure in the distance. "There you are!"

"Cherri!"

"One moment, Grandfather!" Glancing at my house, and then at the figure, I bolted after it. "Hang on, kitty cat!"

_"Cute, wittle kitty~"_

Panting, the cat had turned into the trees at the side of my Grandfather's house. Turning a bend, I followed it, but it had disappeared from sight. "Darn."

_"There! There!"_

I turned around to the entrance of the woods, but decided to venture deeper, in spite of knowing my Grandfather would be angry at my ignoring him. The forest was dark, as the trees grew tall, and it being Summer, their leaves thick and full, none littering the earth below.

_"Ow?"_

"Agh!" I cried, as I took a wrong turn, and fell down a hole. I expected to feel a sudden ground beneath me, causing my bottom to ache, but that never happened- at least, not right away. I glanced upward, the entrance to the hole growing smaller and smaller, as I became farther and farther away. "Blast it! Will this hole take me to China?"

I grunted, as I finally hit the hard earth. "Agh, that hurt.."

"Hey, are you okay?"

I glanced up to see a very tall man, with brown hair and a large sword. "Ah- uh, yes?"

"Yo, Sir Peter, come check it! Think she's an Outsider?" The man called, and came to him a companion. His companion was shorter than the first man, and had white hair and red eyes, hidden behind glasses. He seemed quite unhappy. But, what frightened me more than his angered attitude would be what was on top of his head- this man had _rabbit ears_.

_Maybe he just came back from an anime convention, and forgot to take them off! _I thought, in a hopeful manner. _Or.. maybe it's just his "thing!" Best not to question it, and anger him more..._

"Who _are_ you?" The rabbit-man called Sir Peter asked. Or, demanded, so it seemed.

"Ah! I'm Cherri Riddle." I stood up hastily. "I, er-" I stopped, realizing I had already answered his question.

Both, the first man and the rabbit-man gave me a queer expression. I, however, remained silent, fidgeting uneasily under thei gaze.

"You...?" The first man prompted, his smile seeming to urge me on.

"Ah- I, uh, fell." I felt like an idiot, and froze for a moment. When I recovered, only to receive yet _more_ odd stares from the two men, I continued. "D-down a hole. I, uhm, well... I don't know where I am!" I cried, fear and realization overwhelming.

Sir Peter blinked, his gaze hardening, cold and unwelcoming. "She _must _be an Outsider. We'll have to take her to the palace, so _you_ can explain things, Ace."

The first man, apparently named Ace, grinned even wider. "Alright, a second Outsider! How great is _this_, Sir Peter?"

Sir Peter merely snorted, as Ace grasped my hand, and pulled me off into a direction. "Off to Heart Castle!"

"Agh! Not _that_ way, you helpless twit! Follow me."


End file.
